Richard Nixon – Watchmen, Futurama
Richard Nixon is probably familiar to everyone, not only US citizens. His name will forever be associated with the infamous Watergate scandal. So why do we have this controversial American politician in the list of fantastic presidents? Well, Nixon appears in several fictional science fiction stories . Here we will focus specifically on two of its versions – from the comics and Watchmen movie and the animated series Futurama .
Let’s start with President Nixon, who came from the legendary Alan Moore. As a reminder, the action of the Watchmen movietakes place in 1985. Superheroes have been banned from continuing their activities as crime killers (with a few exceptions). The world is on the brink of a nuclear holocaust, and the only force holding humanity in check is the all-powerful Dr. Manhattan. The Watergate scandal was never revealed in this universe, and Richard Nixon won the war in Vietnam with the help of the aforementioned hero. Thanks to this success and a resolute approach to the enemies of the US, the politician secured several re-elections. When in November 1985 New York is destroyed by a monster from another dimension – which is in fact the creation of Ozymandias (in the film adaptation Dr. Manhattan is framed for causing this catastrophe) – Nixon and USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev agree to bury the war ax to to unite the world in defense against the new threat. Ultimately, the American leader remains in office until his death in 1989. For his achievements, he is added to the other distinguished US leaders on Mount Rushmore.
The second well-known, fantastic version of Richard Nixon is the one from the series Futurama . Here, however, we are not dealing with an alternative version of the world, but with a distant future. Although the series focuses on the adventures of Philip J. Fry, a 20th-century courier who accidentally hibernated and woke up a thousand years later, we can also see many interesting supporting characters. Among them are, among others well-known actors, politicians and celebrities of our times, preserved for posterity as … severed heads in jars. One of these heads is Nixon. Because the show is a science fiction comedy, and the former president was mockingly presented in it. Despite the passage of time, the politician is still power-hungry. He even manages to win the election for president of the Earth. After his election, Nixon is a despotic tyrant, operating from the body of a powerful combat robot. – Krzysztof Płociński
